A Deep and Verdant Green
by Benestro
Summary: Sigyn of Asgard is forced by circumstances to delve into a mist-shrouded valley that harbours a cosmic menace.
1. Chapter 1

A Deep and Verdant Green

I

Fardis, Son of Behoud, satrap of Akif, threw himself down upon his silk-clad haunches at the cliffs edge. He pulled the purple linen keffiyeh from his head and mopped his face and brow, gazing incredulously at what he saw before him. Here, where the crags of the Colchian Mountains blended with the arid sands of Kharamun desert, was now revealed a mist-shrouded valley. From his perch he could detect the sickly sweet smell of vegetation in various states of decay. "You were right, by Tarim!' He said as he struggled to smooth his normally immaculate black hair and mustachios, "I gave little credence to those old maps, but here we are." "Aye, on occasion I get one right." Answered his companion. Sigyn of Asgard cut an incongruous figure. A veritable giantess among the smaller eastern peoples, the tawny haired Aesir dwarfed the slight and slender Fardis. She was clad as a Turanian soldier, a crimson jerkin over a flowing white tunic, and white pantaloons thrust into soft leather boots. She had torn the left sleeve off her tunic to bind a cut along her scalp, revealing sun-bronzed arm thickly corded with muscle. The blade that had dealt her that cut, a yard long Zuagir yatagan, was thrust naked though the red sash twisted about her waist, still clotted with the blood of its former owner.

Tossing the dented, spired, turban-wrapped helm she carried to the ground, she seated herself beside Fardis and studied the steaming valley below. "Many of those old maps of yours are filled with wild fantasies, but in this case they were accurate. Good thing for us too! I wouldn't have wagered a copper on our surviving the desert after escaping those Zuagir pigs, but our options were limited. I remembered seeing this valley pictured on one of your moth -eaten scrolls and decided to make for it." Fardis nodded enthusiastically. " I'm amazed you recalled it at all. You have quite the intellect for a savage." Sigyn grinned at the shared joke. Fardis had tutored her in the languages and customs of Turan and other "civilized" kingdoms in the time she had been employed as a guard for Fardis' seraglio. Fardis often teased her about her barbarous origins, and she retaliated with jests pertaining to his small stature and foppish habits. Being good humored and even tempered individuals, the twain enjoyed the repartee. "What next?" inquired Fardis, fastidiously rearranging his keffiyeh. Sigyn shrugged and pointed to the valley, "We go down there, gather food and water, and regain our strength. Then we decide on how to get back to Akif to find who sold us out to the Zuagirs and gut them." Fardis rolled his eyes. "This again? The Zuagirs attack caravans all the time! Tarim, in his infinite, unfathomable wisdom put them upon this earth to do just that. There is no conspiracy behind it." "I disagree" Sigyn replied, "Your father had sent all the required bribes and tributes to the Zuagirs ere we set out from Akif, yet they attacked us anyway. And when they attacked, they were among us without warning, unchallenged by your sentries or guardsman. Verily, I saw no sign of your retinue…By Ymir! Majaj and I were the only defense you and your wives had!" "Aye." Fardis nodded somberly, His father had hired the two barbarian she wolves on the assumption that male guards could not be trusted to leave Fardis' wives unmolested. Fardis found it grimly amusing that in the end, his salvation had been due to the prowess of warriors his father had hired in jest. He sighed and continued; "I will miss Majaj. I will pray her shade find its reward in whatever barbarous afterlife the Kushites hope for. Still, she made a grim accounting for herself, braining a half-score of the dogs with that bizarre Kushite axe of hers." "You did well yourself Fardis. That skinny Khitan sword of yours stuck swiftly and drank deep. Still…" Sigyn hurled a stone over the cliff and spat. "I counted her as a friend, and I will see whoever betrayed us answer for her death, and those of your wives and servants. They deserved better fates." Fardis looked upon Sigyn sympathetically, and after a moment replied, "Fate is the key word; you yourself once said something about the skein of our lives being woven already, and the pointlessness of striving against fate." Sigyn scowled and replied, "That was a stupid statement. I now retract it. Hush now, here come the last of your wives."

Perched upon the back of a camel, amongst a clutter of hastily gathered bundles and now near empty water bags, and shielded from the sun by a makeshift awning, were two voluptuous, scantily clad beauties. One a dusky, raven haired Vendhyan by the name of Chandi, and an auburn-tressed Brythunian called Tova. Their tear-stained faces told the tale of their misery. "Can we rest now?" Chandi moaned "I shall die if I stay upon the back of this foul beast a moment longer!" Sigyn's face pinched in annoyance. " Aye, Chandi, you may come down. I marvel at your ruggedness. Often as I trudged across that burning sand on foot, my bared arm blistering under the sun, I kept my spirits up by telling myself; 'Rejoice, Sigyn, your suffering pales before that of Chandi, who must ride atop that camel, beneath that stifling awning." Chandi's face blackened with rage; "Fardis! Why do you let this low-born savage speak to me thus! I, the daughter of Peshkhauri nobility. Am I not your wife!" Fardis sighed, and turned to the last of his wives with open palms, "Calm yourself Chandi, we've all been through a lot, Sigyn has toiled under the burden of seeing us safely through the desert to this lush valley, where we will no doubt find sustenance and shelter. She, like us all, is in ill humor."

Chandi climbed down from the camel and stood beside it pouting. Tova dropped to her feet beside her and inquired; "Shall I unpack the bundles? I think we can put together some sort of tent." "Nay." said Sigyn, scrambling to her feet, " We'll catch our breath for a few moments and start looking for a path into the valley. I want water and food, and relief from this accursed desert. Further, I see foliage peeking out from that mist." "Aye," agreed Fardis, "Jungle palms from the look of it. I'll wager there's a dense forest in that valley." Sigyn approached Chandi and glared down at her, the Vendhyan shot her a venomous glance. Sigyn only grinned at her and continued speaking; "A dense forest that will offer better cover from the eyes of any Zuagirs who may have tailed us from the battle. Our odds will be better if we can strike from behind trees and bushes. Work the kinks out of those flawless limbs my little princesses! We build our tent in that valley ere nightfall!"


	2. Chapter 2

**A Deep and Verdant Green**

 **2**

After about an hour of searching, a narrow path hugging the cliffside was discovered that allowed egress into the valley. It was deemed to steep and rocky for the camel to negotiate. Sigyn advocated butchering the camel on the spot for its meat, but Fardis dismissed this idea and ordered the camel unloaded and released into the desert, where it was well suited to thrive. The meager load it carried was distributed among the four travelers. (Chandi protested most forcefully, relenting only when Sigyn offered her the option of following the camel into the desert.) All told, their supplies consisted of a blanket, a small rug, a silk tent (minus tent poles), a satchel full of exotic gadgets that Fardis insisted would prove indispensable, three nearly empty water skins, a short composite bow, and a quiver containing precisely one arrow. Traveling the path was not easy, but nor was it impossible. Care had to be taken to keep proper footing and not slip on loose pebbles. As they descended, the air grew progressively more humid, and soon the sky was obscured by a dense canopy of green. At length they stepped off the rocky path onto the luxuriant forest floor. "Where to now?" inquired Fardis. Sigyn gestured to a point forward and lightly to their right. "See how the ground slopes slightly down here? My father once told me if I ever find myself lost in the wilderness, walk downhill until I come to water, then follow the water downstream until I come to people. I'd say that applies to our current situation." Fardis turned to her with an arched eyebrow, "You expect to find people here? " "Not especially, but anything's possible. I'm sure we'll find water though, perhaps a pond or lake! Let's go!" Chandi balked at any further progress; "No!" she wailed. "I will go no further! My throat burns from thirst and my feet are torn and bruised for that rocky trail, my slippers were not made for this sort of toil! Behold!" she raised a dainty foot and, indeed, the light silken slippers she wore were in tatters, and her feet were bleeding from myriad tiny cuts. "We have to keep moving," Sigyn stated. Cut some pieces from the tent cloth and wrap your feet with those." Before Chandi could protest further, Tova intervened; "If we could pause a bit longer and if someone will lend me a blade, I could fashion some sandals from the quiver. It shant take long." "So be it!" said Fardis. He produced a bejeweled, crescent-bladed knife from his boot and handed it to Tova. "But do try to be quick about it, my dear." Sigyn sighed in exasperation and started off down the slope, "I'll scout ahead a bit, you three STAY HERE!"

Drawing her yatagan, Sigyn used it to blaze a trail though the undergrowth, notching trees periodically. The jungle thickened as she progressed, and soon her sword arm burned from exertion and sweat soaked her tunic. "Ymir! "She muttered, and redoubled her efforts. She passed by many trees laden with exotic fruits, but resisted the urge to seize one and bite into it. Fardis' scrolls abounded with descriptions of lethal plants that infested jungles such as this one, better to wait and find something identifiable as edible. After hacking through a particularly dense thicket of strange, purple, spear-leafed bushes, she was emerged into a clearer area. The arboreal vault was unbroken but the ground was merely covered in fine, ankle high grass of dark green. Sigyn may have failed to notice these fine details, as her attention was wholly engaged by the sheer wall enormous basalt blocks that reared up before her. It was covered thickly with moss and creepers, but it was unmistakably artificial. Despite the dire nature of her circumstances, Sigyn smiled and fairly giggled at her discovery. "A lost city!" she muttered, "By Ymir! And that's running water I hear beyond the wall or I'm a Kushite!" racing recklessly along the wall she was rewarded with a large open archway. It's outré frame distorted by vines and other plant growth into a more bizarre shape, appearing as some troll or forest demon opening it's maw to receive prey. Peeking in, Sigyn spied what was once a resplendent plaza, now choked with a riot of foliage, and from a broken aqueduct above, a waterfall poured into a pool in the center. "HA! For once the gods smile upon me!" she was about to race recklessly to the pool when a noise behind her caused her to whirl about and brandish her yatagan, baring her teeth and snarling like a cornered lioness. "Who's there? Come out and be recognized! If that's you Fardis, I'll….." her challenge broke off as she beheld the figure that was skulking in the green riot behind her. It had the shape of a man, in that it had two arms and one head, and walked on two legs, but there the similarities ended. Its gelatinous flesh was green like the jungle around it, and had a fibrous look to it, here and there tiny vines and blossoms sprouted, there was no mouth, nor eyes, nor any other orifice. Each arm ended in a mass of stubby vines or creepers which may have suggested fingers. Sigyn stood baffled, not understanding what it was she was seeing. Was it alive? She took a step forward. Abruptly the thing sidestepped back into the foliage. Sigyn sought to pursue it, but lost track of it in the trees, or had it dissolved into the jungle? The short hairs bristling on her neck, Sigyn decided it was now paramount to rejoin the others. They had to be told of the wall, and the pool, for jungle demon or no jungle demon, they desperately need water and shelter.

Following the trail she'd blazed by notching trees she was well on her way to where she'd left the others. It was at about the halfway point when she met the Zuagir. Sigyn nearly blundered into the hulking, blue-bearded brute as they both rounded an enormous tree trunk. Both were surprised and stood looking dumbly at each other for a heartbeat, then, with a bellow, the Zuagir raised his outsized scimitar on high and brought it down with the intent to split the Aesir she-wolf in twain. Sigyn rolled to one side and avoided the wild attack, but struggled to regain her feet, hindered by ground creeping vines. Fortune smiled on her when the Zuagir slipped on a patch of slimy mushrooms and nearly fell himself. "Hadaad!" he bellowed, " Ulegg! I have found her! She's.." " She's going to gut you, dog!" Sigyn hissed and leapt at the Zuagir, yatagan poised as if to split his turban. He raised his great, unwieldy scimitar to parry the blow, but with the speed of a striking viper Sigyn changed the direction of her blade and thrust it under the Zuagir's breastbone with such force he was transfixed upon the yard of Hyrkanian steel. Sigyn drug her weapon free of the carcass, and without pause raced back to where she's left the others. If there was one Zuagir, there were more, at least Ulegg and Hadaad. Hadaad. That name was known to her, but….

Her questions became moot as she beheld what was transpiring at the cliff. Tova and Chandi were cowering against the cliff face, while Fardis stood, arms outstretched and sword undrawn, before a man dressed in resplendent, if travel-worn finery. She now remembered, this man was Hadaad, non other than Fardis' brother. He was grinning mockingly and menacing Fardis with a bejeweled scimitar. "What's the old saying brother? If you want a job done right? I am impressed you escaped the Zuagir's raid. That is a feat I thought beyond a scholarly eunuch like yourself. Still, a real red-blood man needs be father's heir! Once you have died tragically during your pilgrimage. I will be sole heir" Fardis was calm and spoke in well modulated tones, "End this foolishness, brother, we can all return to Akif. I will not speak of this to father, all can be as it was." "Fool!" Hadaad scoffed, "Thou ignorant fop! Father is well aware of what I do! Do you think he wants a thin blooded dandy like you for an heir? One who, with ten wives no less, has yet to produce issue? Nay, you disgrace our family name and it ends now! Draw that girlish sword and face me!" "I will not." stated Fardis flatly, " Though it means my death, I will not spill my brother's blood." "Then die the coward you are 'brother'!" Hadaad raised his scimitar and charged Fardis. Chandi screamed and buried her head in Tova's breast. But before he could deliver the fatal blow, Sigyn emerged from the wood and caught his eye. "What?

The Barbarian wench? Have you slain Ulegg and Shabaz? Father said you and that Kushite whore were mere decoration, and posed no threat. It seems he was wrong." "Behoud was wrong about a great many things, the fat pig." answered Sigyn, "And aye, I did kill your toadies, like this!" With that, Sigyn set upon Hadaad like a wild beast, slashing madly at his head. Hadaad was no mean swordsman, but the unexpected prowess of the golden maned savage put him off balance. To one used to the soft, mincing doxies of the Turanian court Sigyn seemed like a force of nature. Hadaad cut Sigyn many times, as she seemed to give no thought to defense, but her speed and agility seemed to put her elsewhere when his blade sought a vital wound, and her yatagan seemed to assail him from all sides, offering no respite. Then suddenly he saw a chance! The wench overextended herself and he was poised to drive his blade through her armpit! But then she twisted and there was a flash of crimson….

Hadaad found himself on his knees, staring at the bloody stump that had been his sword arm. Sigyn brought her blade up to strike off the head of the man who had betrayed his own brother and brought doom upon the heads of so many. "Sigyn! No!" shouted Fardis. "Do not slay him! I forbid it!" Sigyn hesitated, long enough for Hadaad to lurch to his feet and run headlong into the jungle. Sigyn watched him disappear, then turned to Fardis, pointing with her bloodied yatagan in the direction of Hadaad's flight, "That was stupid!" she said, her voice trembling. "He will stalk and try to kill us again later! Also, I lied. I killed but one of the dogs, this Ulegg is still out there somewhere! Atali's Tits!" Sigyn hurled her blade to the ground in a childish display of frustration. Fardis as ever, remained calm, "I cannot slay my brother, nor allow one of my retinue to slay him. I cannot. Are you still part of my retinue Sigyn?" Sigyn tossed her head back and shook her tawny mane, exhaling forcefully. Finally she replied. "Aye Fardis, I still serve you. Gather your wives! I found water and shelter, and something else. Perhaps there's something in that jungle that will deal with your accursed brother for us!"


	3. Chapter 3

**A Deep and Verdant Green**

 **3**

After making Tova take up Hadaad's dropped scimitar, Sigyn hastily led her charges through the dense jungle to the ruins. Her gaze swept the jungle constantly, expecting at any moment to be set upon by Zuagirs, or green, leafy plant men. In short order, they arrived at the base of the great tree where she'd battled Shabaz. "Great Tarim!" Fardis exclaimed, while Tova and Chandi gasped in horror. The hulking Zuagir still lay at the base of the tree where he fell, but the corpse was hideously transformed. The flesh had been invaded and tunneled through by vines and creepers, and thick moss had covered the flesh that had barely cooled. Here and there, white bone lay exposed where flesh had given way to plant growth. "Ymir.." whispered Sigyn, prodding the body with her yatagan, "This is damned peculiar." Fardis turned to her, a baffled expression on his face, "Do you think so? What grows that fast? And while we are on the subject of things peculiar, have you noted that?" Fardis gracefully gestured with an upturned index finger. "Listen!" Sigyn sighed and concentrated on the sounds of the jungle, only to hear… "Silence. Dead silence. " She stated." No birdsongs, no screeching of monkeys, nor buzz of insects. By the same token, normally in a climate like this, we'd be eaten alive by insects. Ymir's teeth! Let's hasten to the ruins!" "Perhaps we should fill our water skins and leave this valley?" Tova suggested. "I would agree, but darkness will be upon us soon, and I would not wish to navigate this thick growth in the dark. Come!" Sigyn resumed the march into the jungle, and shortly the four arrived at the cyclopean wall. Chandi made straight for the pool. "Asura be praised!" she exclaimed as she started to thrust her hands into the water, Fardis stopped her, "Hold! Let me have a look at that pool first." Fardis approached the pool thoughtfully, stroking his moustache. "This was not constructed as a pool. I see the remains of some sort of platform in the center, and the rim of the pool makes a bench. This was some area for oration or discussion I'll wager!" Producing a silk handkerchief from the sleeve of his tunic, he dipped it into the pool and brought it to his nose. He grimaced and shook his head then circled the stone lined pool until he arrived at the waterfall that poured from the broken aqueduct above. He thrust his hand into the flow, withdrew it, then rubbed his wet fingers together, and then brought his fingers to his nose. Finally, he gathered some of the water in his cupped hand and tasted it. Chandi threw up her arms in exasperation, "Well?" She shouted. Fardis gestured to the waterfall, "This water is safe. Avoid the water in the pool. Do not drink or bathe in it." And why not?" Chandi enquired petulantly. "It is oily and smells foul, and, unless I miss my guess,.." he placed the handkerchief on a nearby rock. He then reached into the satchel he'd been carrying and took out a peculiar looking metal contraption. "What in Ymir's name is that?" asked Sigyn. Fardis frowned in thought then replied, "It's basically the same as flint and steel, but it works more efficiently. 'Twas a gift from a Khitan princeling. Behold!" Fardis operated the mechanism and it produced a shower of sparks. The handkerchief, which should have been too damp, erupted in flame. "So the pool is flammable then?" asked Tova. "Partly." replied Fardis. "If you look, you'll spy shiny rainbow hued areas, those would likely combust." " We should have no trouble staring a fire then!" said Sigyn. "You girls fill those skins and refresh yourselves in the waterfall. I think there's some flat rocks behind it on which you can perch. Fardis and I will gather some fruits and firewood and have a look around. We shant go far. I'm sure I can count on you to cry out if anything untoward happens!"

Fardis and Sigyn searched high and low in the area near the pool but found no dead wood of any kind. It seemed the trees in the strange valley were immortal. Giving up, they resorted using their swords to hack down a number of oddly formed saplings and chopping them into usable lengths. While they worked, Sigyn shared the account of the apparition she'd seen when she discovered the ruins. They agreed to keep that detail between themselves. No sense alarming the wives any further. After gathering a load of wood and picking a good quantity of purple fruits Fardis identified as being edible, they returned to the pool as night fell. Fortune smiled upon them in that, when kindled with the oily liquid floating on the pool, the green wood burned quite nicely, if somewhat too quickly. Once everyone was gathered about the crackling fire, Sigyn finally allowed her self to make use of the waterfall. Undressing and peeling the makeshift bandage from around her head, she went behind the waterfall where a rude platform was formed by the fallen masonry, and there stepped into the waterfall. The water was surprisingly cold, but more than tolerable to one reared on the icy tundras of Nordhiem. She allowed the flowing water to wash the dried blood from her hair and body, and soothe the cuts and scratches she'd received over the past few days. When she'd finished washing, she drank her fill of the cool water. Discarding her torn, bloody tunic, she donned the red leather jerkin, pantaloons and boots and rejoined the others by the fire. They were eating and chattering to each other in low, quiet voices. Sigyn mentally praised them for keeping quiet, but in the preternatural silence of this bizarre jungle, their whispers were a cacophony. If Hadaad was still at large and had not bled out in the jungle, or if more Zuagirs had entered the valley, well, that scarcely bore thinking about. Seating herself where she could see gateway to the jungle, Sigyn seized a few of the fruits and tore into them with great relish. "The rest of you sleep" she instructed between mouthfuls, "I will take first watch. I will wake you, Fardis, when I judge it to be midnight." Fardis nodded silently.

Fardis and Chandi stretched out by the fire, throwing the blanket over them. Tova approached Sigyn, bringing her the bow and its single arrow. "You may want these." she said. Sigyn smiled, "My thanks! I'm a mediocre archer on a good day, but perhaps I might give them a fright!" "You have done well by us, Sigyn, You have my thanks." Sigyn shook her head, "Nay, I was charged with the protection of all ten of Fardis' wives, and only saved two of you." Tova placed a comforting hand on her knee. "Do not reproach yourself! What happened was beyond your control. You fought mightily and brought us away with our lives. Oh! Your wound!" The cut on Sigyn's temple had begun oozing blood again, "That needs stitched. I have the means, and the skill to do that, if you will allow me." "Please do." Sigyn replied, "Tis a damned nuisance as it is. I hope you do as well on me as you did on those sandals you fashioned from the quiver, that was impressive." Tova smiled and fetched a small bag from their pile of belongings from it she took out a needle and thread. "I don't have to tell you, this will not be pleasurable." "Aye, I've been stitched up on more than one occasion." Tova began sewing the wound shut. Sigyn winced now and again, but otherwise stoically endured the procedure. Tova sought to distract her with conversation as she worked. "How is it that you came to be among us? What brought you away from frozen Asgard to the deserts of Turan?" Sigyn shrugged. "Nothing noteworthy. In Asgard, my life consisted of battle, hunting, freezing and more battle. There was an old man in our village that had been south and sailed with the Barachans; he would regale us children with wild tales of the exotic lands to the south. That fired my imagination, I suppose. At any rate, once I reached a certain age I was told to pick a lad to marry and have babies. This didn't sit well with me, so, using one excuse or another, I decided to see a bit of the world first." "All finished." said Tova, as she produced a small clay jar, "I'll apply a bit of this unguent to speed healing" "As you like. What of you Tova? How came you to be one of the ten wives of Fardis?" Tova smiled patiently as she applied a generous amount of a yellow balm to Sigyn's freshly stitched head wound. "It's a typical enough story. My family was waylaid by bandits in Brythunia. I was taken alive and sold into slavery. Eventually I was purchased by Behoud of Akif and given to Fardis as a gift. I have lived a life of ease since then, true enough, but still a slave." Sigyn's brow furrowed, " I like it not, the way "civilized" folk keep other people as they would livestock, I myself plied the oars of a pirate galley under the lash, albeit briefly." Tova put away the ointment and as an afterthought, carefully arranged Sigyn's hair, saying, "Any foolish enough to enslave you would no doubt rue the day! You were born strong enough to live free. I am not so lucky." Sigyn impulsively embraced the Brythunian, "I am sorry to have brought it up. Thank you for tending my wound. It feels better than it has in days." "Good, the Unguent is doing its work. You will soon feel no discomfort." Tova stretched out by beside Sigyn, "I will sleep now, barbarian, I am weary to the bone." Sigyn made no reply, and sat with her yatagan across her knees, casting a sharp eye on her surroundings.

Tova was true to her word, all of the cuts, bruises and other injuries Sigyn had accumulated ceased to trouble her. Indeed, a great feeling of contentment and well being came upon her. A strange lethargy crept into her limbs. As she watched, the dancing flames of the fire seemed to take on bizarre aspects. She turned her gaze toward the pool and watched the rainbow colors that floated there swirl and form phantasmal images, Sigyn rose and went to the pools edge. From this closer vantage point she could see reflected in the swirling, prismatic waters scenes of a bustling metropolis, majestically carved of polished basalt. Great domes and towers reared up about precisely planned streets. Tiny, sallow skinned people moved about hither and yon conducting their business. They were resplendently clad in silk and cloth of gold, with outlandish headgear and esoteric jewelry as accoutrements. Was this the city they now camped in, when it was alive and wondrous? Suddenly the strange little people looked upward, a green glow fell about all things, becoming brighter, brighter, obscuring the people and their city. Sigyn moved closer. She had to see what happened next. The tiny people seemed to shout with one voice, _"Kozouhept! Kozouhept!_ _ **Kozouhept**_ **!** "

Suddenly, she was pulled backward away from the scene. Twirling about she was confronted by a great, wooly serpent, with huge glowing eyes. "The Ice Worm!" Sigyn raised her yatagan to strike the legendary monster of Nordheim, when it's toothy, drooling maw began to work obscenely. "Stay thy hand Sigyn! Have you heard the cry of the loon? It is I Fardis! You were about to fall into the pool!" before her eyes, the image of the Ice Worm melted and swirled, reforming into the familiar countenance of Fardis, Sigyn dropped her blade and shook her head, "Fardis!" her speech was heavy and slurred. " Sweet Fardis! Had I slain you.." she seized the scholarly Turanian and crushed him to her bosom. Fardis writhed and protested. " Unhand me woman! What has gotten into you?" Sigyn thrust him from her, but still gripped him fiercely about the shoulders, " I know not! I am plagued by phantasms, and my limbs feel as lead! That fruit I ate must have poisoned me!" Fardis tried to escape her grip. "Why are none of the rest of us affected? No it must be…." Before Fardis could finish, he was interrupted by Chandi shouting, "The Gate! Look to the Gate!" All turned to look at what stood there, partially revealed by the flickering fire. It was a tall, well muscled man, bald and clean shaven, gold hoops adorning his ears, he eyed them impassively, still partly shrouded in darkness. "Ulegg, no doubt!" said Fardis in disgust. Sigyn picked up her yatagan and lurched forward. "I'll deal with him." she slurred. "How? " protested Fardis, "You are in no condition to fight!" Sigyn shrugged and staggered forward, reeling like a drunken sailor, "Who else will do it?" "I for one! Sit down!" Fardis drew his jade hilted Khitan sword and approached the figure. Sigyn ignored his instructions and followed at his side.

"See here, Zuagir!" began Fardis, raising his sword point to the sinister figure, "Walk away from this! Your fellows are all dead or maimed! There is no point continuing this madness!" Wordlessly the man stepped closer and was fully illuminated by the fire. He stood before them unarmed and stark naked, his flesh had an oily sheen and the suggestion of a greenish tint. Sigyn snorted with drunken amusement, "Oh my! Is this another phantasm? That's not the sword you should have brought to this fight, Zuagir, but I'm impressed, for what it's worth!" The man said nothing, but began trembling slightly. A crease appeared in his forehead between the eyes and rapidly spread down his face, then further forming a vertical slit from forehead to crotch. The slit widened, oozing green ichor, and tiny wriggling green tendrils began to appear. While Fardis recoiled in horror, Sigyn began laughing harder "Are you seeing this too, Fardis? You know what that looks like, do you not?" Abruptly, several rope like vines erupted from the split body of the Zuagir, seizing Sigyn and dragging her towards it. Hard spiky thorns had appeared about the edges of the slit, and the man's legs dissolved into stout trunks. Sigyn grappled with the creature while Fardis sought to cut the tendrils holding her. He managed to free her, but the thing produced more vines and sought to entangle them both. Fardis found it difficult to grip his blade as it became coated in the oily secretions of the plant. Then, an idea came to him. "Sigyn! Drag it to the pool!" with that he raced to the fire and using the flat of his sword, swatted the burning embers into the pool. As he'd hoped, the oily sheen lying upon it ignited, turning the pool into a raging conflagration. Sigyn grasped great handfuls of the fibrous mass that assaulted her and drug it inexorably toward the pool. The thing struggled against her, but plant fibers were no match for iron thews forged in the harsh wilds of Asgard. With a final effort, Sigyn lifted the whole writhing mass over her head and with a bestial cry, hurled it into the blazing pool.

It nearly drug her in after it, having hurled more tendrils about her during the struggle, but she held fast long enough for Fardis to sever the revolting tentacles. The thing caught fire and writhed obscenely for a few moments, then was still. Sigyn collapsed on the ground, and laughed long and hard, "How much of THAT was real, Fardis? By Ymir, my head feels as though it's infested with ants!" Fardis dropped to his knees beside her. "And my heart pounds as though it will tear from my chest! That was damnably real woman! We must quit this hellhole at first light." "Agreed." Sigyn groaned, "But for now let me lay here, whatever curse that fruit laid on me still plagues my senses! Now I seem to hear the wailing of demons." Fardis leapt to his feet. " I hear it too! Tis the girls! Listen!" Indeed, Sigyn heard the tortured wails of a woman, and Tova's voice was clearly recognizable, "Help! Oh merciful Mitra, help us!" Fardis tore off in the direction of the wails, exhorting Sigyn to follow. She struggled up on unsteady feet and, not immediately seeing her yatagan, took up the jeweled scimitar of Hadaad, which lay forgotten by the edge of the now blazing pool. She also paused to gather the bow and arrow. Staggering off after Fardis she muttered, "What fresh hell is this, I wonder?"


	4. Chapter 4

**A Deep and Verdant Green**

 **4**

As she stumbled after Fardis, it seemed to Sigyn that the groundcover about them had come to life. Blades of grass leaned forward as if to grasp at her, and her feet seemed in constant danger of being entangled by writhing creepers. Still, she dared not trust her senses, which were still addled. She found Fardis kneeling over the edge of a pit. It had eluded earlier discovery by virtue of being concealed by foliage, but now it was open. "Help me!" exhorted Fardis, "They have fallen in!" Sigyn kneeled down and peered into the pit. Within, she saw the pit to be filled with nude, bearded, blue skinned dwarves that cavorted with pert breasted ivory-furred fawn women. Sigyn looked away; rubbing her eyes, and after a few heartbeats, looked in again. This time she saw Tova clinging to the side of the pit, and a few feet below her, Chandi, also perched precariously on a narrow earthen ledge. The twain seemed to be dimly illuminated from below by sickly green phosphorescence. "Hold on to my feet Sigyn, and secure me while I reach in for them." Sigyn dumbly complied, grasping Fardis' ankles and giggling as they became thick, red sausages in her hands. "I can't reach them." said Fardis, "lend me your arm and I'll climb in." "Hurry!" wailed Chandi, "The ledge crumbles, and I think something is down here with us."

Sigyn grasped Fardis by the wrist and he eased himself down to the narrow ledge upon which Tova stood. "Grasp me about the neck, Tova, and we will climb up with Sigyn's help. Hold fast Chandi, I will come for you next." Sigyn braced herself and pulled while Fardis and Tova struggled up the side of the pit. She closed her eyes as to not be plagued by more absurd visions, thus, she did not see what caused the disaster that followed. There was a sudden shriek and Sigyn was violently pulled to the edge of the pit, her arm nearly wrenched from its socket as it suddenly bore a great weight, she instinctively reached around with her free hand and dug in her heels. Fardis held on for dear life Tova clinging to his neck and grasping Chandi by her hair, the latter screaming, grasping desperately for Fardis' arm, and scrambling her feet to find another foothold. "Do Something!" Sigyn howled. "I cannot hold all of you!" "Chandi! Hold still!" Shouted Fardis "Grasp my arm!" But they Vendyhan only began to shriek more loudly. "Something…Something is grabbing me! Oh, Asura! It has me in its grasp!" Indeed, as Fardis struggled to see what transpired, he could see myriad translucent green arms reaching up from the pit, their stubby fingers digging into Chandi's tender flesh. He strove to keep his hold on her, but the screaming girl was torn from his grasp and drug into the depths of the pit, her wails growing fainter and fainter.

Fardis and Tova managed to find enough purchase to allow Sigyn to drag them up to the edge of the pit, where they were able climb out. Sigyn groaned, rolling back and forth on the ground with her arms held close about her. They felt as though they'd been stretched to a great length and were now drawing back in like a spring. At length, she composed herself enough to rise and, slinging the bow about her chest and thrusting the scimitar and arrow into her sash, she began climbing into the pit. "Where in Tarim's name are you going? "Asked Fardis. "Going to get her, I'll not lose another of my charges." "No!" Fardis protested. "Something unnatural took her, probably related to whatever happened to that Zuagir. And you are in no shape to go after her; you aren't even in your right mind!" "It's a small matter." Sigyn sighed. "I go!" Fardis slumped and shook his head in resignation. "At least wait one moment." He then ran back to their campsite and swiftly returned, carrying his peculiar fire starting mechanism and a box-like bronze affair with a round lens on one face. This he opened, and, operating the fire starter near it, kindled a small flame inside. This was magnified greatly by the lens and produced a respectable beam of light, He then handed the contraptions to Sigyn, and "It's a miniature lantern." he told her. "A gift from your Khitan princeling, no doubt?" she asked. Fardis grinned. "Aye." "Well, give me your sash to tie it about my wrist; I need both hands free to climb down." When this was accomplished, Sigyn began her descent. By the illumination of the dangling lantern she was able to find hand and footholds. A brittle ledge here, a projecting root there. She expected at any moment to be seized by nightmare green hands and drug off to her doom, but she reached the bottom of the pit without incident. She found herself facing a tunnel opening, just tall enough to allow her to enter without stooping. "It's not deep!" she yelled back up to the rest of her party. "There's a tunnel here, I'm going in. You two wait by the pool until it dawn! If I'm not out by then get out of this valley as best you can!" Not waiting for a response, she drew her scimitar and set off down the tunnel.

The tunnel was covered, floor, wall, and ceiling, with the same vines and creepers that ran riot above. And, though underground, the light from the lantern revealed them to be the same rich emerald color. The further down she went, the more strongly Sigyn's nostrils were assailed by a peculiar, yet familiar odor. She normally would have figured out why it was familiar, perhaps, but her head was still reeling, and her mind altered. She found it difficult to concentrate. The effect seemed to be worsened down here. The shadows cast by her lantern took outré forms and seemed to whisper to her in forgotten tongues. Again, that strange word _Kouzouhept_ thrust itself into her awareness. "Damned Fruit! From now on I eat nothing on the advice of little eastern scholars! "She muttered. Now another voice could be heard, a pitiful wailing, interspersed with a plaintive pleading in some other bizarre language… But wait! Not bizarre. Sigyn had heard this tongue though she had yet to learn it. It was Vendyhan. "Chandi!" she yelled. "Keep screaming girl! I am coming." the wailing did not grow louder but turned into an unintelligible muttering, then finally into quiet sobbing. Sigyn broke into a run, heedless of the tangled growth and the increasing slipperiness under her feet. Abruptly, the tunnel opened up. Here the phosphorescence was stronger and the eldritch green glow revealed not a natural cavern, but an artificially carved chamber near perfectly hexagonal, with each face sporting an alcove that housed a different idol. Each of the idols was of some blasphemous, inhuman abomination. To Sigyn's blasted senses, it seemed the idols reared up out of their alcove and leered down at her from a great height, their various orifices drooling and working. She lashed out at them with her scimitar, but only sliced futilely at thin air. Realizing she strove against phantasms, she ceased swinging the blade and rubbed her face with her palm. Deciding what she was seeing was, for now, real, she looked about the chamber some more. A few paces in front of her, in the center of the chamber there was another circular structure similar to the pool above, in this was a great orb composed of tangled roots and vines, illuminated from within by the emerald phosphorescence, and oozing oily sap that gave of a rainbow sheen when the beam from Sigyn's lantern traced it. "Chandi! Are you here!" she called. There was no response, but a part of the orb rippled and Sigyn spied a dark mass suspended among the tangles. Invoking the rugged Gods of Nordhiem. She drew close to investigate. Her invocations turned to curses as she beheld what at befallen Chandi.

The mass in the orb was indeed the Vendyhan. Her supple body now violated in the most unspeakable manner imaginable by the writhing, burrowing greenery. No longer able to speak, her throat and mouth infested by the plants, she fixed Sigyn with a pleading gaze, even as tiny, emerald creepers writhed across her pupils. The Aesir hesitated no further, and thrust her scimitar under Chandi's chin, driving it into her brain in an attempt to end her suffering as swiftly as possible. Chandi lay still, but it seemed that the green orb fluttered angrily, and the shade of the glow subtly changed. "Well struck, barbarian! Now I'll trouble you to do the same for me." Sigyn whirled to face the source of this voice, to discover Hadaad. He was similarly inundated by the plant matter, but attached to the wall in one of the alcoves, for some reason, his head was untouched, thrusting out from a pillar-like mass of writhing vines. "Strike, woman! Whatever our quarrel, think you I deserve to suffer this fate? Strike, then flee before it decides to take you! If it overpowers you, you're finished!" Sigyn approached him, unsure if he was real or another fruit induced hallucination. "What is this?" she asked, unsure why she thought Hadaad would know. "All this? Ah! I can tell you, as the damned thing has invaded my thought as it has invaded my body. Not all of it makes sense. That glow in the center there. It thinks. _Kouzouhept_ it names itself, thought it's concept of what a name is differs drastically from ours. It came here from another…..sphere…another world that hurtles in the gulfs between the stars! My bookish brother would be more able to explain it to you. Ah! Would that he languished here instead of I! It came eons ago, when this was a great powerful city ruled by a race of sallow-skinned pygmies. It wants to talk to us. You see? But it cannot. Plant-things cannot speak with meat-things. So like it has to us, it tried to turn the meat-things it found here into proper plant life, so it could speak to them. But it doesn't work. Meat-things cease to think when turned.….. _Kouzouhep_ t can travel across the cosmic gulfs, and has a lifespan measured in eons. But it's not smart enough to realize it's killing us! AH! By Erlik's bowels! Strike! I would die while still Hadaad, not some mockery of a man! Strike, Damn you!" Nodding Sigyn lashed out with the scimitar and struck off Hadaad's head. In truth, she felt no more anger or hatred for the man. Aye, he'd suffered aplenty for his sins.

She turned and gazed at the glowing orb of foliage in the center of the chamber. She felt no anger toward _Kouzouhept_ whatever it was, it was no more evil than the viper that strikes out of instinct, or the aurochs that tramples out of fear. There was a slithering, Sigyn could see the vines of the floor writhing, gleaming with that rainbow sheen, soon they would spring upon her. Kouzouhept would grapple her and turn the meat of her body to its own deep and verdant green, trying to speak to her. As it had tried to speak to all the others. "I think not" she said aloud. "I am sorry." Sigyn had remembered what was familiar about the odor, and the rainbow sheen. Tearing loose the length of cloth she'd used to secure the lantern for her descent, she quickly knelt and dipped it in the pungent fluid coating the floor. Making her way past the ever more active vines she returned to the tunnel raced back toward the pit. She paused at a point where she could still see part of the orb, and setting down the lantern knotted the oily cloth tightly about the arrow she'd brought, just behind the bronze arrowhead. Then, taking the Khitan firestarter from her sash, lit it. She nocked the now blazing arrow and drew back the bow. She could see vines crawling along the tunnel wall, snaking out to grasp her, to invade her body. "Ymir! See this shaft to it's mark, and I will make a great sacrifice in thy name!" she loosed the shaft and it flew swift and true, lodging in the woody mass of the glowing orb. Within a heartbeat the chamber was aflame as the oil coating everything burst into a conflagration.

"Ha!" barked Sigyn, and she hurled curses after the retreating creepers. "Burn you bastards! I…..Oh!" Her celebration was cut short when she realized the flames were spreading rapidly towards her. Casting aside the bow and snatching up the lantern, she tore off back up the tunnel to the pit. She made great speed as it seemed her steps were no longer hindered by the greenery on the floor. " More pressing things to worry about likely." Arriving at the bottom of the pit again she called out" Fardis! I'm coming out! Throw down a vine or something! Fardis!" there was no response. Cursing she struggled up the wall of the pit with out aid. About halfway up. The bottom of the pit ignited beneath her. The flames licked up and caught her oils soaked boots aflame. "Atali's Tits!" she screamed and hastened her climb. She had never considered herself a strong climber, but somehow she was that day. She gained the top of the pit and kicked her flaming boots off into the blaze below, then ran back toward the campsite, cursing and favoring her blistered toes. "Damnation! This place is more hellish than I'd imagined" she announced, arriving back at the pool. "Gather everything and let's move upstream of this place, I'll….." Sigyn ceased speaking, for there, by the edge of the still blazing pool, was Tova, standing over the crumpled form of Fardis with a bejeweled, crescent-bladed knife in her hand, dripping with his blood.


	5. Chapter 5

**A Deep and Verdant Green**

 **5**

Tova whirled and faced Sigyn as she approached, her visage a mask of rage and hate. "You!" she spat. "Can you not die?" Sigyn made no reply and shambled forward, reluctantly raising the scimitar. She hoped that the scene before her was yet another hallucination, but in her heart she knew it was not. "What have you done, Tova?" she asked. "What Hadaad, The Zuagirs, and this cursed jungle could not. I have slain Fardis!" "Why?" asked Sigyn, flatly. Tova spread her arms, a mad gleam in her eye. "To be free! Hadaad promised me my freedom in exchange for my aid! I drugged the food of Fardis' retinue with the powder of the Yellow Lotus just before the Zuagir raid. That is why they offered no resistance." Tova shook the crimsoned knife at Sigyn. "The matter should have ended there, but you proved more capable than expected. I left Hadaad secret signs, signs only he would perceive, that allowed him to follow us here. But again, you bested him and his henchmen when you should have died. By Mitra! There was enough Yellow Lotus in that unguent I packed into your head wound to fell an ox. I had planned on you succumbing to that and then cutting your throat while you lay insensate, but once again, you shrugged off that which would fell a normal person!" "Sorry to disappoint." stated Sigyn. "But why kill Fardis? He was kind to you." "Kind?" Tova spat again. "Aye, kind the way a man is kind to his favorite hound! I care not for Fardis! I have been a slave since before I'd seen twelve summers! Passed from one rich, lecherous, fiend to another like a plaything! When Hadaad presented his scheme and offered me my freedom for my part in it, I seized the chance!" "And you took him at his word?" asked Sigyn. "Why would he deal square with you?" Tova shrugged her supple shoulders. "No matter. How would my life be any worse had he lied? Judge me not, savage! You, who with your great strength and dumb luck can leave even the strongest of men choking their life out in the dirt! Damn you to Hell!" with that, she hurled the jeweled dagger in the Aesir's face. Sigyn was slow to dodge in her condition, but the knife was inexpertly thrown, striking her cheek pommel first. While she stumbled trying to avoid the cast Tova raced past her. Sigyn took off in pursuit, unsure what she would do to the Brythunian when she caught her. True, she'd betrayed them and caused scores of deaths, but her words rang true. Sigyn was a daughter of the proud and savage Aesir, the idea of the life Tova described sickened her. Yet, the Brythunian had killed Fardis. Sweet, gentle, scholarly Fardis, who, in troth, lived a lifestyle afforded him by being born an aristocrat in a society built on the backs of the enslaved, but offered no one ill treatment himself. And what of Chandi? Surely Tova bore a great deal of responsibility for her grim fate. Tova ran past the campsite to the pit, and now stopped at its edge. Sigyn stopped within swords reach of her, started to speak, then stopped. At a loss for words. Tova laughed haughtily. "What now? Have you no barbaric oaths or threats? Perhaps a demand that I take up a blade and fight you! No doubt it would be an affront to some savage taboo of yours to strike me down unarmed! Ha! I will save you the trouble, whore!" With that, Tova cast herself into the blazing pit. There, she screamed for some moments, and then there was silence. Sigyn watched the flames wax as they consumed this new fuel. "No doubt burning to death hurt a lot worse that she'd anticipated."

Sigyn slowly walked to the prone form of Fardis. Kneeling she rolled him on his back and took him in her arms. His hair and moustache had become disarrayed, so she carefully smoothed them back into the style he so fastidiously maintained. Tears ran unchecked down her cheeks. "Alas, Fardis. I tried so hard." she pulled his limp form closer to her and gently kissed him upon the lips. The Turanian abruptly writhed in her grasp. "What is this? Unhand me woman!" Sigyn's eyes grew wide and a broad grin spread across her face. "You live! Thank Ymir!" she kissed him again, this time more robustly. "MMMPH! Enough!" he howled "I am sorely wounded! Tova stabbed me in the back! I fear she was in on this plot the whole time." Sigyn said nothing and felt Fardis' back for the wound. Finding it, she probed it with her fingers, producing howls of anguish from him. "Ah! It's not that bad. Your ribs turned the blade! Had Tova's arm been stronger, or if she'd known the proper way to stab someone, your fate would have been sealed." "What's become of her?" enquired Fardis. "Jumped in the pit! No, do not look at me that way! She jumped in of her own accord; I had aught to do with it."

Fetching Fardis' dropped keffiyeh for use as a bandage, and forcibly removing his tunic, Sigyn dressed the wound as best as circumstances would allow. While she worked, she related to him all that transpired in the underground chamber. "Poor Hadaad." he said. "I'd have yielded my inheritance to him had I known he'd go to these lengths, I had little care for it. As for my father, I knew I was a disappointment to him, but I never dreamed…" Fardis grew silent. Sigyn watched him for sometime, then moved closer to him. She pushed Fardis on his back and crawled atop him, pinning him to the ground. "What madness is this Sigyn! "he protested. "Let me up!" she smiled and began unfastening her jerkin, "I'm about to ravish you, my little scholar! That's what we barbarians do, no?" She leaned over and kissed him fiercely, then began passionately biting his neck and earlobes, her hands roving freely over his body. "Fardis…"she said, her voice quivering, "I can fight this no longer!" She continued thus for some time, until she noticed that Fardis was showing no reaction whatever to her attentions, lying stiff as a board under her. She rose and said crossly. "What is the matter? I know this isn't the best place for lovemaking, but…" Fardis interrupted her with raised palms, "Sigyn! Listen! I have not the words to tell you this, but I am not interested in… No! let me finish. You are no doubt beautiful in your way, and I have come to care deeply for you, aye, even love you after a fashion, but I have no need to…to…lay with you or any woman for that matter. Do you understand?" Sigyn looked upon him dumbfounded for some time, and then slowly the pieces put themselves together in her mind. Finally she rolled over and sat beside him, chuckling as she did up her jerkin. "Ymir curse me for a fool! It was obvious! The ten wives and no children. The Khitan princeling. AH! I feel so stupid." Fardis placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Sigyn. It's …my position is difficult. Do not be angry with me." Sigyn regarded him silently for a few heartbeats, then after a space, asked, "What next? We dare not go back to Akif; no doubt your father will try to kill us again." Fardis stared at the flames still blazing among the ruins, lost in thought, finally he replied.

"Khitai. We will go to Khitai. I have an open invitation there." "Aye, "said Sigyn sardonically, "No doubt you do. That's a long trek through hostile lands." Fardis nodded. "It is. Will you see me there?" Sigyn turned to him and grinned, "Aye Fardis. I will see you to your prince. It's getting light, let's gather what supplies we can and quit this damned valley forthwith!"

 **The End**

 **Sigyn of Asgard will return in:**

 **Under the Sign of Jhebbal Sag**


End file.
